Whenever I hear Personal Trainers tell their clients to get their cardio in, I’m amazed with the disgust, moans, and crying. Seriously, you are not in prison camp or torture device, its just the Treadmill! Isn’t the treadmill just a beginner cardio workout routine anyway?

We all hate the treadmill because its soo boring. But its not really that boring, we are all just conditioned to multi task in every facet of our life. And yes, the treadmill requires you to dumb down your life for an hour and walk at a continual pace! No meeting, no multitasking, no budgeting, just walking.

The real problem is that most of us are too smart for the tread mill! After all, it is just walking, right?

Why a Cardio Routine Shouldn’t be Forced

If you really hate to do something, then most likely you won’t want to do it. When I started a beginner cardio workout routine on the treadmill I could only handle it for 7 minutes! Did you hear that…7 MINUTES! But I stuck to it, because I set a goal. And it is the goal that got me through my workout routine.

Don’t think about all the cardiovascular training you need to do, mostly think about the results you are trying to get. In the beginning, my goals was to hit 25 minutes on the treadmill. And once I got there I increased my goal from there.

Most of all don’t let yourself be a prisoner of the gym. If you are trying to lose weight and only doing cardio, you will not hit your weight loss goals. So the good news is you don’t have to do much cardio fitness. Adding cardio to a strength training program will enhance your weight loss. And if you haven’t heard, strength training is THE fat loss fitness workout.

Image Source: naturalrunningcenter.com

A Simple Beginner Cardio Workout Routine

To help my time on the treadmill I started doing this easy beginner cardio workout routine. As I mentioned I could only stay on the treadmill for 7 minutes. After all, as much as you hate anything, 7 minutes is still manageable.

If you can handle 3 minutes do this beginner cardio workout routine…

Go to the gym when its not peak time so you won’t have trouble getting on the machines. Pick five pieces of equipment:

Treadmill

Bike

Elliptical

Recumbent Bike

Rower

Do each piece of equipment for 3 minutes, then do 3 rounds. 3 minutes times 5 pieces of equipment is 15 minutes, times 3 rounds and you are at 45 minutes. Boom….you are done!

If you can handle 5 minutes per piece of equipment, the do 3 machines for 5 minutes. You will get the same workout done.

The best part of this cardio workout is that on such a short time on each piece, its like you are only waiting 3 minutes. The first round is your warm up, the second is your intense round and the third is your high intensity or cool down depending upon your level of fitness.

You will find yourself amazed how you don’t watch the clock, get bored, or plan your next day of meetings. You don’t even have to read a book. All you do is concentrate on yourself and the next piece of equipment you are going to.

Why You Won’t Feel Like a Prisoner

Being on the treadmill for 45 minutes may feel like you are a prisoner in the gym. However, using this beginner cardio workout routine combined with a great strength training program, you will start seeing awesome results. If you need extra motivation, just find a good personal trainer to help you with your diet, workout intensity, and setting your fitness goals.

After all, your workout shouldn’t feel like you are being waterboarded!